Israeli forces uncovered a large Hezbollah tunnel network under the newly captured Beaufort Ridge in Lebanon, the IDF announced on Sunday.
The extensive underground complex was intended for emergency use by the terrorist group after they lost Beaufort Castle last week to Israel's large-scale anti-terror operation in Lebanon, according to Israel's public broadcaster KAN News.
According to the IDF, troops from the Golani Brigade, as well as Maglan Commandos and Yahalom Combat Engineers, discovered the network, which consists of several tunnels, and are still uncovering its full extent.
The network can accommodate hundreds of Hezbollah operatives across multiple rooms designed for long-term use and terror activity. These include living quarters, plumbing, electrical infrastructure, and extensive anti-tank and aerial defense arrays “intended to target IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the military stated.
In one tunnel, roughly a kilometer long, soldiers located "six underground shafts, a storage room used for weapons, an anti-tank missile launcher, anti-tank missiles, grenades, ammunition, combat equipment, advanced medical equipment, and several living quarters, including shower facilities, restrooms, an operating room, and kitchens."
IDF took control of Beaufort Ridge in recent operation
The "significant" underground complex was intended for emergency use by the terrorist group, which lost the castle located on the ridge last week to Israel's large-scale anti-terror operation in Lebanon, KAN noted.
At the end of May, the IDF announced that it had captured the Beaufort Ridge, which it had previously held between 1982 and 2000, when Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon.
Yonah Jeremy Bob, Corinne Baum, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.